Understanding Multiculturalism

Understanding Multiculturalism

“Conceptually complicated and with wide-ranging empirical investigations, this volume is most likely to appeal to readers with some prior exposure to Central European history and theoretical approaches to nationalism. They will find in it plentiful food for thought.” · The American Historical Review

“The volume is highly recommended for anyone researching multiculturalism, and one can only agree with Csáky’s assertion that Habsburg Central Europe was a “laboratory” of experiences that can be usefully discussed in a broader context.” · Austrian History Yearbook

Multiculturalism has long been linked to calls for tolerance of cultural diversity, but today many observers are subjecting the concept to close scrutiny. After the political upheavals of 1968, the commitment to multiculturalism was perceived as a liberal manifesto, but in the post-9/11 era, it is under attack for its relativizing, particularist, and essentializing implications. The essays in this collection offer a nuanced analysis of the multifaceted cultural experience of Central Europe under the late Habsburg monarchy and beyond. The authors examine how culturally coded social spaces can be described and understood historically without adopting categories formerly employed to justify the definition and separation of groups into nations, ethnicities, or homogeneous cultures. As we consider the issues of multiculturalism today, this volume offers new approaches to understanding multiculturalism in Central Europe freed of the effects of politically exploited concepts of social spaces.